Latest Bracketology by Joey
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This is the time of year… right now… where teams step up and play a lot better basketball. We will have to do the same if we expect to do anything in the tourney.
First… this may be the worst defensive team Bill has had in Lawrence. I can’t think of a worse defensive team. Can anyone else?
We do just enough down the stretch to win most games. Not sure that strategy works in March… but I doubt we change the nature of this team now. Obviously, it is a super plus to play well in the last couple minutes of games.
This time of year, I watch a lot of basketball. I check up on everyone. It helps give me a perspective on where Kansas basketball is because I am not wearing blinders now.
I have to admit I haven’t been feeling great about us after watching all of this basketball. I was thinking this was kind of a down year for college basketball, but I’ve changed my mind. Lots of good teams out there.
I feel good for us as long as we go out and hustle every game. But now I feel strange about a few things. When we come out and start hot, we seem to blow it at the end. So… we are supposed to hope we are behind at half?
When was the last game we put 40 minutes together? Uh… um…uh… have we done it this season?
The good news is we have miles and miles of upside. The question is whether or not we will start grasping it.
Improving our defense is #1. I don’t even think we have a Top 100 defense this year. Just playing a little bit of tough defense is bound to reward us with a lot of free offense. But will we do it?
I don’t question our toughness. I question our defensive prowess. We simply ARE NOT HUNGRY on defense. This has been a gradual decline throughout our season where we got a little bit softer every single game.
Winning has actually hurt our development. Winning has been our crutch for going soft on defense.
Another crutch… this idea that we can’t win with 7 players. Many of the top teams only have 7 players. It is enough. But we constantly focus on how tired we are. I don’t hear other teams talking that way or focusing on it. I appreciate a certain level of focusing on conserving energy, but not to the point where we use it as an excuse for screwing off.
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Pathetic.
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My bad. Just saw @wrwlumpy posted it earlier in the “History Lesson…” thread.
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@drgnslayr I thought we played pretty good against osu in a hostile environment. They were a pretty hot team! Snap out of it!
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@drgnslayr that is really what most on here dont want to admit and make loads of excuses for - our guys do not hustle and use all their mental focus on defense.
“We simply ARE NOT HUNGRY on defense.” Absolutely. It makes me wonder what they work on in practice and if Bill calls them out for not hustling. It is pretty pathetic that a group of veterans that have elite eight experience and supposedly “hungry” to get to the final four rarely hustle.
The “no bench” excuse is crap. People need to watch other teams play, like you and I do, and notice that most teams play a short bench in big games. Roy and Marsha play a deep bench, but that is not common, especially in the second half. Duke played four games in four days against some of the best teams in the country and they looked like they hustled every minute I watched them.
It is inexcusable that our guys only put serious effort in for 5 to 8 minutes a game. That has nothing to do with the short rotation. If people still think that, then they dont watch much basketball other than KU.
Frank and Landen need to chew some rear end - specifically Svi, Lagerald and Devonte - and tell them they need to step it up and quit loafing on defense. They are seniors and this is their last chance in the tourney. Its time to leave everything on the court every single game. Anything else is not enough.
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@HawkChamp It is all about intense defense, period. We never had the crash after clinching the conference. I am not saying Coach Self engineered the crash in order to rest, and refocus the team. But I’m not denying it, either. We haven’t seen this team’s best game yet. We have seen glimpses of intense defense that literally flattened several teams, but not an entire game with a 40 minute sustained effort. Our best games are coming up.
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Thanks. I always pick up some fear this time of year because I’m watching more games of other teams and see how good they are.
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And so it begins. As I told you, there is a good chance Duke gets a #1 seed…the Coach K butt kissers are now making a case for Duke…
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I was upset during that TCU game. I recall TCU shooting the ball and the only guy we had moving his feet was LL trying to get in position for a rebound. All 4 of our other players simply watched the shot, like an observer instead of a player.
I’ve said this before and for many years. If guys have to be pushed to hustle, then eventually they will just give up. Hustle is in someone’s DNA. I’m sure of it. I see it off the court, too. Some people just hustle, while other’s don’t.
I actually enjoyed watching KSU play in the tourney this weekend. They hustled on defense and almost beat WVU.
When a KU fan has to watch a KSU game in order to enjoy defense… doesn’t that say it all?!
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@HawkChamp Totally agree with you and @drgnslayr . This is the time of the year that ALL team members must give 100% for 40 minutes. 85-90% will not get it done. We are good enough to beat a middle of the pack team like TCU without one of our starters. So no excuse there. Just more effort on every play. Oregon lost a major player and only lost by 3 points to a much better team than TCU. Yes we played very well in Stillwater in a game that was not near as important as these tourney games. We won because of pride and to prove that we could. We need that same attitude going forward.
KU has enough good players to win several or more games going forward. The only question is will they have enough pride and “want to” to grind their way thru the next several weeks. I am hoping and expecting that they will. Josh should have a chip on his shoulder and will want to go out in a blaze of glory. Frank and Landon and the supporting cast should help attain that mission. Not looking forward to any more disappointments. GO JAYHAWKS!!!
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@drgnslayr yeah its really sad to behold. I have a small bit of hope that the loss to TCU embarrassed the guys and made them think a little bit about what their role is and how they need to represent the program. That was a terrible display of basketball. I hope they have a little more fire watching these other teams play hard, win and have fun doing it while they’re at home.
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Anyone watching UK vs Arkansas? It’s getting ugly very ugly as in Arkansas has had some hard fouls and a guy ejected.
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God… that is sick. Yeah… give a team that finished 5th in their conference a #1 seed. What a crock of snit.
I will say that Duke is dangerous, more now than anytime this season. But so what? So is WSU. I know I don’t want us to see the Shockers this time. That doesn’t mean I make the Shocks a #1 seed.
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@Big-Clyde52 the effort and intensity thing is why I wont pick this team to go far in the tournament. I mean, middle school players can go hard for every rebound, and yet our guys dont? Really an embarrassment for the program that has had such a history and reputation because guys worked hard and didnt loaf. This is mostly, as you said, a pride thing.
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@drgnslayr To answer your question, is this the worst defensive team under Self, the answer is YES, at least as measured by KenPom defensive efficiency ratings - and it’s not really close. In 10 of the last 12 years prior to this one, KU has had a top 10 ranked defense; 6 times in the top 5. The two lowest ranked years were '09 at #12 and '14 at 22. Right now we’re ranked 30th in DER. As I’ve pointed out elsewhere, no team has ever won a national championship with that low a defensive ranking. Now, those rankings are post tournament, so perhaps we will tighten up on the defensive end - although we’ve actually regressed on the metrics over the past few games.
You and @HawkChamp suggest that its that we’re just not hungry enough on defense. I do think effort and awareness does come into play - esp. on transition defense (or lack thereof) - we’ve given up way too many transition baskets, which is very uncharacteristic of a Self-coached team. And, I agree that the short bench is used too much as an excuse, although it may be in the back of the guys minds that they need to pace themselves. But really, with every game from here on in, you get all the extra TV timeouts and you only play two games in a week. No excuse not to go hard the entire game.
But, I don’t think it is just an effort issue. We simply don’t have the right line-up and skills sets to be elite defensively. Other than LL, no wide bodies and other teams get more offensive rebounds and put backs, which means giving up more points per possession. We have virtually no rim protection to make up to cover up easy penetration - many of the blocked shots we’ve recorded have actually been from behind on transition - not in the half court rejecting drives to the hoop.
I think the primary issue is that certain players have no lateral quickness at all - Svi on the perimeter and LL and Bragg in the post. The former problem is obvious; with the latter two it means that they are often late with help defense. Combine the above with the apparent lack of court awareness on the the part of Svi, Vick and Bragg and the tendency of DG and JJ to lunge at the opposing player trying to get a steal, which allows an easy blow-by if not successful, it adds up to a team that gives up a lot of easy baskets - and to make at best average teams look like offensive juggernauts.
I’m hopeful that with the short calendar - there really is no tomorrow - and additional rest due to TV timeouts, the guys will put in the requisite effort on the defensive end. And, I would like to see us throw in a few possessions of zone and pressure to keep the other teams off-balance. And, I think our guys get much more focused on the defensive end when they are applying pressure.
We’re not going to be an elite defensive team. But, we don’t have to be. Given that we are an elite offensive team, we just need to be better that we have been. We shall see…
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I’m STILL , STILL, trying to get my poster board tourney bracket made up. - -Not the teams but where to place my region on the board. - -ESPN shows the bracket made up as East & West on the top part of the bracket and West & Midwest on the bottom. - But CBS sports bracket is different , so I’m not sure how they set up. - -Got to know how to place them on my board… - -The way ESPN shows it - -it would be East vs West & South vs Midwest in the final four match ups. - -Does anyone know for sure how the regions set up? - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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@drgnslayr I don’t think in the end run Duke will get the # 1 seed - -how do you put a 8 loss team as a # 1 seed, before the tourney they had lost 3 out of their last 4, didn’t win their conference - -just don’t justify it. - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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@jayballer54 still doing it the caveman way
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I don’t either. Just that someone puts them on the top line is ridiculous. 8 losses. Fifth in their conference.
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@jayballer54 Unless they have changed it, I believe it has been South and East at the top. West and Midwest at the bottom in the past. Last years bracket was that way.
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@DCHawker If lateral quickness is the problem, then there is no excuse for not working on it EVERY DAY during the summer.
But - we have seen them be spectacular when all five players decide to clamp down. If they want to get to Pheonix, they will have no choice but to do that throughout a game. No excuses.
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I’m guessing the final four is yet to be determined by the final rankings of the #1 seeds
2016: south vs. west and east vs. midwest
2015: midwest vs. west and east vs. south
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@drgnslayr EXACTLY, that’s what I’m talking about lol - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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Great post.
Yeah… we just need someone else to stand up besides Frank. It feels like Frank is our plow horse and everyone else is riding on the back of the plow.
Here is something to think about… I think everyone in here considers Josh to be more of an alpha-dog player than Wigs was. Yet… name a game where Josh really took over the game? Never. He hasn’t done that. Wigs did on several games. I do realize that it isn’t a fair comparison because Josh is surrounded by experienced players.
But at this time of year, the only thing that counts is winning. If Josh needs to be the guy that steps up, why shouldn’t he?
I’ve been on Devonte’s butt for more than a month. He just wasn’t putting in the extra hustle.
I think all our guys can bring more hustle to the game. It has been a while since we’ve seen one of our guys diving on the court.
Do we really want to win-out in March? What is more important… do we really NEED to win-out in March?
Maybe we just weren’t challenged enough during the year. Maybe we have a hard time getting motivated for lessor opponents. But in March, we all know, if we don’t come motivated for a game there is an excellent chance we lose that game.
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@Big-Clyde52 Thank you, ya that’s the way it was last year I still had an old bracket make up from last year but just wasn’t sure & CBS was different, but I think that’s how ESPN bracket challenge is sit up too so I believer your right. So that would mean if we were in the Midwest we would be playing the East region winner in the final four right? - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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@DanR Thanks , so they switch around every year?Cause like you stated & I still have an old bracket from last year like you posted, I would think they would leave the region set up the same every year - -like 2016 South vs West & East vs Midwest - -I would think that set up would stay the same but hell I’m not the Committee lol - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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Bleacher Report now says 1 seeds are Nova, UNC, Gonzaga and Puke in the Midwest.
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@drgnslayr I dont know - it feels like there were plenty of challenges. This team reminds of the 2010 and 2011 teams - the best team when motivated but loafed around and didnt give it their all most games. I know people dont like Marsha, but boy he does a great job at getting his teams to play tough and hard every single game. Bill can’t do that.
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@brooksmd that’s bullcrap
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@brooksmd saw that
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@drgnslayr You are right about the Josh and Wigs comparison. The advantage Josh has is he has possibly 6 games left to prove he is the greatest one and done in KU history.
We know Frank can take over games. We have seen times where Landon has been a dominant force. D’te has shown he can be a force raining threes, shutdown defense, (Buddy), Add Josh to the mix and that is a pretty salty foursome. In summary, this team has the parts to be really good. We can only hope the effort and desire is there. GO JAYHAWKS!!!
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@brooksmd on second thought, I like it. Give our guys a little edge by being disrespected and getting a 2 seed.
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Maybe if our guys played for Marsha they would play harder? Should we trade coaches? Players? Cf is really hitting shots now, lighting up the the Mvc!
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@jayballer54 I believe so. I am to the point that I am not too worried about how the brackets come out. We had one flat game last year against Nova. That cost us a Final Four trip and possibly another NC. I just know we have to play every game with the very best effort we have. If we do that, all will end well. GO JAYHAWWKS!!!
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Bleacher Smeecher Report: So Duke playing without players and losing is okay, Kansas loses a game with a key player out and that matters…
Okay- no bias there.
Guess that’s why I don’t have them bookmarked anymore.
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@Crimsonorblue22 maybe I dont know. All I know is every game I see coasting on defense and rebounding. Those are the two areas that have precedence over ALL areas of the game. And yet we see it every game.
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@HawkChamp we losing?
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The brackets are gona fall how they fall. I’m not going to BOO HOO how we got screwed, I just hope we don’t get Dickie V, or Billy W for any of the games so i don’t have to mute the tv.
I also heard coach ordered 6 cases of
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If Duke gets a 1 seed and we don’t…that will put a damper on the whole tournament for me. I’m serious. In the past, the whole body of work throughout the season has been what mattered most. Yes, they give teams a better seed for playing well at the end of the season or in the conf. tourney, but Duke was a 4 before. I can’t see them giving them a 1…unless it is in place of NC…but then Arizona would have a beef.
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@Crimsonorblue22 thats the thing - I care more about how well the team is playing (fundamentals, taking care of the ball, not giving up layups routinely, making open shots, not getting blown by on defense) than wins and losses. The record will take care of itself if they do those things well. The problem is, rarely do our guys do those things and they are winning and they have been lulled into a false sense of security.
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@Ralph I can’t remember Dick doing any NCAA tournament games. He works for ESPN which is owned bye ABC. The tournament is on CBS and their affiliates.
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Duke is not jumping KU. Even with KU losing to TCU in the quarterfinals and Duke winning the ACC tournament, KU still has the superior resume in every way including a neutral court head to head victory over Duke. If for whatever reason, the committee has their heads so far up their butts that they do give Duke a 1 seed over KU in the Midwest, KU would still be the 2 seed in the Midwest which still means KU would go through Tulsa and KC. The only significant change would be KU wearing blue in the Elite 8 when they beat Duke again.
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@brooksmd There is no friggin way that is happening. - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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@Crimsonorblue22 YA, - - - -emphasize -MVC - - MVC - - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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Here’s the latest Assembly Call projection. http://assemblycall.com/bracketology-ncaa-tournament-bracket-projections-mar-12-2017/
Villanova, UNC, Gonzaga, Kansas in that order as the 1 seeds.
He has Duke and UCLA in the bottom half of the Midwest as the 2 and 3 seeds which I would take in a heartbeat because those are two of the most dangerous teams and only 1 of them would advance deep enough to potentially face KU. I’ll take that. He as Notre Dame and Cincy as the 4/5 seeds and Arkansas/Dayton as the 8/9 seeds. Bucknell shows up in KU’s half of the bracket as the 13 seed in the Midwest, but that would be a potential Sweet 16 game so not much chance of that game happening.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 OOOHHH!! I don’t want to run into Notre Dame. Bonsey and their 3 point shooting would not go well for us.
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@Big-Clyde52 for sure. Does the team know that there is a three point line? Because they don’t seem to guard it at all. Makes me wonder what they talk about
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@Texas-Hawk-10 I agree totally. - -Again before this weekend Duke had lost 3-4, finished fifth in their conference, Ku end up the regular season poll ranked as the # 1 team in the nation - had just won their 13th straight conference title in what is surpose to be considered one of the top 2 conferences in the Nation - -A team that was never out of the top 10 the entire season - -A championship over a period of 4 months - -NOT 4 games. - -The only way in hell Duke replaces KU as a # 1 is going strictly the committee kissing duke ass because of the Coach name RAT FACE and nothing about what his puke team accomplished this season. - -if anything Duke replaces Gonzaga before they take KU’S # 1. - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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@HawkChamp @drgnslayr WSU isn’t every teams superbowl, night in-night out. Easy to underestimate the effect of that. I watched part of some WSU games early and they looked crappy and uninspired. We don’t judge them the same way.
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@Bwag they aren’t a veteran team this year so that matters.
I don’t care that KU is everyone’s super bowl. That should not make a difference whether or not our guys play hard.
